


Dusk Till Dawn

by EvelynEnder



Category: Among Us (Video Game)
Genre: Among Us, Fanfiction, M/M, Major Original Character(s), Red - Freeform, Romance, green - Freeform, space, video games - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-17 14:41:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28850760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvelynEnder/pseuds/EvelynEnder
Summary: Impostors have only one mission in mind: kill off all crewmates. However, what will happen if an impostor gets infatuated with a crewmate?(A/N: Yes, I suck at writing story summaries but I promise the story is better than my sorry excuse of a summary.)
Kudos: 13





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This was something I had originally made for an English project but after a while of thinking, I decided to post it on here. One part of this story was based a bit off of an Among Us comic titled "The Impostor's Kiss" made by Dal on Tumblr. Please go check them out when you have the time as they have some lovely art.
> 
> Anyways, this A/N is getting too long. Hope you enjoy reading this book as much as I did making it! :3

_Crash!_

‘ _Crap!_ ’ the professor thought as he ran through the halls of the spaceship. He could feel them coming ever so close to him.

“ **Oh professor, why do you run?** ” a hauntingly deep voice taunted from behind him.

The professor didn’t reply. Instead he kept running. His legs were already starting to hurt but his will to live was urging him to continue moving.

As he ran, his mind was filled with nothing but guilt and regret; guilt for the people that were killed and regret for not properly sealing away that **thing**.

He hadn’t intended any this. If only he and his fellow scientists had properly sealed away the creature that the astronauts had found during their trip to Planet X. If only they had taken proper precaution to seal it away after they had finished doing tests with it. Maybe, just maybe, this all wouldn’t have happened.

Alas, it’s too late for regrets.

The professor continued to run through the dark halls. He could hear the loud footsteps from behind him. Yes, they were chasing him, but they made it seem like they weren’t even in a rush to kill him. To them, this was all just a game of cat and mouse.

_Creak_

The professor immediately stopped running. In front of him, a vent had opened up to reveal one of those things. He couldn’t help but let a tear fall from his eyes as he looked at it. This thing had taken on the form of his best friend, Roger. However, instead of seeing his best friend smiling up at him in his clean green space suit, all he could see was a terrible monster staring back at him hungrily.

The once clean green space suit was now covered in blood and was torn in some places. The space helmet was split open in a way that made it look like a giant mouth. In the middle was a giant eyeball and surrounding it were rows upon rows of sharp, jagged teeth. Some had bits of flesh on it while the rest were covered in blood. However, pièce de résistance of this thing’s appearance were the multiple black spiked tentacles that protruded from its back.

The professor frantically looked around for a place to escape to. Over to his right, he could see the door to the weapons room was open. He looked in front of him to see the thing climbing out of the vent. He then looks behind him to see the thing’s partner closing in.

Being left with no choice, the professor makes a dash for the room and swiftly closes the door behind him, narrowly escaping the black tentacle that was about to pierce him. The professor retreated to the back of the room.

Unfortunately, despite the room’s name, there were no actual weapons to be found. This was simply the room where they kept the main console that controlled the ship’s outer weapons. It was used from time to time to clear any asteroids that could be blocking their way.

_Bang! Bang! Bang!_

The professor looked at the door in panic. He had nothing to defend himself with. There weren’t any escape rooms either. Even if there were, he was sure he wouldn’t make it that far as these things were well acquainted with the vents and the layout of the ship. Feeling defeated, the professor simply stood there and prepared for the inevitable.

With a final bang, the door was busted down. The thing impersonating his best friend immediately ran to him and restrained him with his tentacles while the other one calmly walked toward them, carefully observing the professor.

This one didn’t look as grotesque as the other one. This one also chose to impersonate one of the astronauts but there were no tears on the suit, and no disturbing features or obvious sharp, jagged teeth. It would have looked normal and passed off as just another astronaut if it were not for his clawed hands and the blood on his suit.

“ **That was certainly fun, wouldn’t you agree?** ” it asked the professor. The professor didn’t respond.

“ **Ah well. It’s alright if you don’t want to respond, especially considering the fact that we brutally murdered all of your colleagues** ,” the thing said as it chuckled. “ **So, any last words?** ” he asked him.

The professor looked up at him, tears of anger rolling down his face, fury evident in his eyes.

“Burn in hell!” the professor spat.

“ **Fair enough,** ” the thing said with a shrug. He then turned around and walked towards the door. Before leaving however, he looked back at the professor and his partner. With a sinister smile, he nodded at his partner.

_Chomp._

And with that, the other thing swiftly bit the professor’s head off. It then held the rest of the body out a bit, as if offering it.

“ **No need. I’m full from eating the others. You can have this one,** ” it stated with a dismissive wave. It then walked out of the weapons room, the sounds of its partner in murder happily eating away at the corpse fading into the distance as it walked to the communications room.

Upon reaching the communications room, it immediately walked over to the console, turning it on and then requesting for an emergency call at Mira HQ. As soon as someone answered the call, he quickly feigned being frightened and out of breath.

“ **You’ve got to help us, please! There’s been a mass homicide on the ship!** ”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Red/Alex from here on out will speak in bold letters while Green/Roger will speak in bold-italic letters.

“ ** _Attention: all astronauts, please report to the cafeteria immediately.”_**

“Hey Tom do you know why the commander is calling an emergency meeting?” an astronaut in a pink space suit asked as she walked with another astronaut to the cafeteria.

“Honestly Thea, I have no idea. At least I get to put off doing tasks for a bit,” he replied.

“Oh please, like you do tasks anyway,” another astronaut snickered as he walked past them.

“Oh shut it, Jerry!” Tom retorted as he opened the door to the cafeteria.

“I’m just saying,” Jerry said nonchalantly as he sat down.

After that, the three of them went quiet as they waited for all the other astronauts to enter the room. Once they were complete, the commander entered the room and cleared his throat before speaking;

“As you know, two weeks ago a mass homicide happened on the Polus ship,” he started. “Unfortunately, among the ten scientists and astronauts aboard, only two survived. Last week, I received a message from HQ saying that they would transfer those two here today. So please, they’ve been through enough trauma to last a lifetime. Try to be nice,” the commander explained.

“But how will they come here sir?” Thea asked.

“We’ll be stopping by the Mira HQ space station. We’ll pick them up there and continue on our route,” the commander briefly explained. “You are now dismissed.”

With that, the astronauts on board dispersed to go continue their daily tasks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“We’re here. Now remember, don’t ask them about what happened,” the commander said as he glared at the other astronauts.

The hatch opened to reveal an astronaut in a green space suit and one in a red space suit. Beside them were two other astronauts in dark blue space suits. They brought the two new guys into the ship and went back out the door.

“They’re under your care now, Commander Rex,” one of the astronauts wearing dark blue stated.

“Thank you for escorting them here gentlemen. We better be on our way now,” the commander said. He then saluted to them before closing the hatch. He then beckoned everyone to follow him into the cafeteria.

Upon reaching the cafeteria, he turned to face the two newcomers.

“I welcome the both of you to our ship. Now, we’ll do quick introductions and then I’ll assign to you your tasks,” he explained. “Pink, you start.”

“ ** _Pink?_** ” the astronaut in green asked.

“Oh. We use codenames here on the ship. For simplicity, we just call each other according to the color of our space suit. Anyways, I’m Thea!” Thea said as she waved at them.

“Anyways, I guess it’s my turn. I’m Tom. The guy next to me is my brother, Jerry,” Tom said with a yawn.

“Hey! The name’s Koku and this is my best friend James!” Koku said while pointing at himself and the guy sitting next to him.

As the introductions continued, Red and Green stayed silent, only nodding occasionally to acknowledge them. However, Red’s eyes seemed to be transfixed on the guy wearing the orange space suit.

‘ _If I’m not mistaken, his name was James,_ ’ he thought to himself as he continued observing him.

“Oh? James, it seems as though you have an admirer~” Koku joked as he nudged James and pointed at the guy in red. James looked to where he was pointing to see the guy staring at him intently. His face turned a light shade of red before he turned away from the guy.

“Just drop it,” James simply replied as he glared at Koku. The two of them then continued to talk after that.

James’ little blush didn’t go unnoticed by Red however. This little action made him involuntarily chuckle and smile. This caught the attention of his partner.

“ ** _Why are you chuckling?_** ” he asked. Red was too distracted to notice. Green then looked to where he was looking only to see he was staring at James. “ ** _Oi, oi, oi. Remember, we’ve got a mission to do. You better not get attached to any of these humans_** ,” Green whispered to him.

Red immediately snapped out of his stupor. He then lightly punched Green on the shoulder while rolling his eyes. They continued to quietly argue until they heard someone snapping their fingers. They both looked around the room for the source of the sound only to see Tom standing and snapping his fingers.

“Oi, we’ve been asking for your name for the past two minutes,” he remarked. Green growled a bit and was about to give him a piece of his mind until Red put an arm on his shoulder, stopping him.

“ **Apologies. My name is Alex, but you can call me Red** ,” Red said.

“ ** _And I’m Roger. Call me Green or whatever_** ,” Green grumbled.

“Alright. Now, Purple, go accompany Green and teach him his tasks. Orange, go accompany red and teach him his tasks as well,” the commander. After that, he dismissed everyone.

“Have fun with your new boyfriend~” Koku told James with a wink. He then patted him on the back and walked away.

James was about to reply to him but no words came out. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder, causing him to jump a little. He slowly turned his head around only to be met with Red’s stone cold expression.

“O-Oh, Alex! Sorry, I didn’t notice you there,” James said as he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.

“ **It’s alright. Also, just call me Red from now on** ,” he replied.

“Well, if you say so,” James said. “Anyways, I’ll give you a quick tour of the ship and teach you the tasks so you can get started!” James said.

The both of them walked off to the door on the left. James placed his ID on the scanner, granting him access. Afterwards they proceeded down the hallway and into the first room to their left.

“This is the MedBay. We usually just come in here to do tasks since it’s pretty rare for any of the crewmates to actually get sick or injured,” James explained.

“ **What kind of tasks do you do here?** ” Red asked as he looked around.

“Just our daily medical scans and the occasional sample scan,” James replied with a shrug.

As Red continued to look around, he noticed something fairly shiny on the floor near one of the medical beds. He crouched down to look at it.

“ **Hey Orange, is this a vent?** ” Red asked. James was slightly surprised he got called by his codename instead of his actual name but paid no mind to it.

“Yeah. We have vents all around the ship so that the oxygen can circulate much better. Why do you ask?” James asked as he tilted his head to the side.

“ **It’s nothing. But out of curiosity, how many are there?** ” Red asked him as he got up.

“If memory serves me right, there’s around fourteen of them. They’re all connected to some of the other rooms in this place. It makes talking with the other crewmates fun sometimes since all we have to do is shout through the vent,” James said with a smile.

“ **That’s nice** ,” Red said as he walked back over to James.

“Anyways, let’s continue the tour!” James exclaimed as he exited the room. James looked back at the vent one last time before following him out of the room.


	3. Chapter 3

“ ** _So, did you find anything_** ” Green asked as he entered the room.

“ **Luckily, I did. I found out that there’s vents all over the ship that connect to each other. I also found a map of the entire ship in the admin room earlier** ,” Red replied.

“ ** _That’s great! Where is it?_** ” Green eagerly asked. Red sighed and handed him a folded piece of paper.

While Green was busy with looking over and studying the map, Red sat on his bed and stared at the wall. He couldn’t help but think of his interaction with James today. The way he would tilt his head when he was asked something or the way he would smile while telling stories of what he and his fellow crewmates did up here in the ship.

It almost made Red regret what he and Green were about to do to them.

_Almost._

He was once again broken out of his stupor by Green who gave back the map.

“ ** _What are you thinking about? It better not be about one of those humans_** ,” Green said, his arms crossed and his brow raised.

“ **Oh please. Why would I be thinking about them? I’m trying to think up some plan for us to finish this swiftly. I want to get this over and done with as soon as possible** ,” Red said as he stood up and walked towards the light switch. He then turned the lights down till it was dim enough for them to be able to sleep.

“ **I’m going to rest now. You should as well. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow** ,” Red sighed. He walked back over to his bed and strapped himself in.

Just as he closed his eyes, an image of James flashed through his mind, making him smile a bit before falling asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, Red and Green got up early. They had devised a plan; they would try as much as possible to isolate the others. That way, it would be easier for them to kill everyone.

“ **Remember; don’t be reckless. We can’t get caught. Just try to act normal** ,” Red reminded Green before he opened the door.

“ ** _Yeah, yeah. I won’t be reckless_** ,” Green replied while rolling his eyes.

While on their way to the cafeteria, they ran into a girl wearing a purple space suit and a guy wearing a cyan space suit. The girl in purple turned around to greet them.

“Oh hey new guys! I don’t know if you remember, but I’m Rhea! This grump beside me is Ben,” Rhea said as she held her hand out.

“ **Ah yes, I remember. Good morning** ,” Red greeted with a small smile.

“ ** _Yeah, good morning_** ,” Green mumbled. Red nudged him roughly on the side.

“ **Be nice, Roger** ,” Red scolded.

“It’s fine. I’m kinda used to it already. Especially with our resident grumps, Tom and Ben,” Rhea joked. “Anyways, let’s head on over to the cafeteria. I’m starving!” Rhea whined.

“ ** _So am I_** ,” Green said. Rhea then grabbed his arm which caught him off guard.

“Let’s go, breakfast buddy!” Rhea shouted as she walked to the cafeteria, dragging Green by the hand.

“ **Oh dear. Is she always that energetic?** ” Red asked as he turned to face Tom.

“Yeah, but don’t hold it against her. She just really likes being here,” Tom replied. He turned to go after Rhea but before doing so, he stopped and turned his head to look at Red. “For the record, I don’t trust you or that buddy of yours,” he said, glaring at Red.

“ **That’s understandable. However, you have no reason to be suspicious of us. We mean no harm** ,” Red reassured him. Tom just replied with a scoff before walking off.

Red watched him as he walked away. When he was sure he wasn’t around anymore, Red scowled and rolled his eyes. He rubbed the temple of his head in slight frustration.

‘ _We haven’t even made a move yet someone already suspects us. We better be more cautious_ ,’ he thought.

Just as he was also about to walk towards the cafeteria, a cheerful voice called out his name from behind him.

“Good morning, Alex!” James greeted. Koku was following right behind him.

“ **Ah, good morning Orange. Good morning Yellow** ,” he greeted with a smile.

“Oh, I just remembered, I forgot my ID back at the room. Hey James, why don’t you go to the cafeteria with Alex?” Koku suggested while wiggling his eyebrows.

“But Koku-“

“Okay, I’ll see you at the cafeteria. Bye!” And with that, Koku ran off to who-knows-where.

“ **It seems your friend won’t be back for quite a bit. Shall we?** ” Red said as he gestured in front of him.

“O-Oh! S-Sure, let’s go,” James stuttered out as he walked next to Red, his face turning a bright shade of red.

The entire walk to the cafeteria, all Red could think about was how adorable the human next to him was acting right now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Green met up with Red after breakfast so they could put their plan into motion. They would fake tasks for a bit and then kill one or two people. If they could kill two people each day, then they’d be able to get this done much faster.

“ ** _Hey, sabotage the lights. I’m going to try and get someone in electrical. Keep watch on the cams_** ,” Green said as he transformed and slipped into the vent. Red could do nothing but nod and sigh.

Since they were alone in the security room, he didn’t have to worry about anyone seeing them. He then whipped out a small console and looked for the electrical room. He had already downloaded the layout map for the ship onto his special little console yesterday so now all he had to do was press the right buttons.

Once he found the electrical room, he pressed the button and the lights went out. He heard someone open up and enter through the entrance in the hallway next to him so he used his console to close the door behind them. From the hallway, he heard a small squeak. Just for good measure, he went out into the hallway to check.

“ **Who’s there?** ” he asked.

“It’s just me and Koku!” James called out.

“ **Stay right there, I’ll come to you** ,” Red said. He could see perfectly well in the dark so he had no trouble getting to them.

“Where did you come from?” Koku asked.

“ **I was diverting power to the security room when the lights went out. What about you two?** ” Red asked them.

“We just finished our scans in MedBay,” Koku explained.

“That’s weird. Usually the lights would be on right now. Should we go check electrical?” James suggested. Koku agreed with him. Not wanting to seem suspicious, Red also agreed. He just hoped Green had already gotten out of there.

As they arrived at the electrical room, they noticed that the door had been locked. Koku brought out his ID and scanned it, opening the door. It was pitch black.

“What is that smell?!” Koku said as he pinched his nose.

“I don’t know where it could be coming from though. Let’s just fix the lights,” James said. Koku and Red nodded, feeling their way through the dark for the light panel.

“ **I think I found it** ,” Red announced. He then opened up the panel and flipped a couple of switches. Soon enough the power came back on.

“That’s weird. The smell seems to be coming from back here,” James called out.

“I bet Jerry left a sandwich here to rot or something,” Koku snickered.

Suddenly James screamed.

Upon hearing the screams, Ben and Green (who didn’t want to seem sus) immediately ran into the room. Red and Koku quickly approached James.

“ **What happened, Orange?** ” Red asked though he already had a big guess as to what it could be.

“O-Over there,” James said, his voice shaky. With a trembling hand, he pointed to the back corner of the electrical room.

Laying in the back corner of the room was the bloody corpse of Rhea. The only thing was, it was missing the entire upper half. All that was left of Rhea was her bottom half. Some bone was protruding near the middle.

“Oh god, I think I’m going to hurl,” Koku said as he leaned onto the wall for support.

“ ** _What happened here?_** ” Green asked, feigning concern.

“I-It’s Rhea. S-She’s dead,” James mumbled as tears started to form in the corners of his eyes. He then leaned on Red, catching Red off guard. He paid no mind to it and decided to help comfort him for now.

Tom, not believing what James had just said, shoved past Red and James to see for himself. Indeed, he did find the corpse of his best friend. James fell down to his knees in shock as tears began rolling down his cheeks.

“Rhea…” he whispered.

He then let out a frustrated yell and punched the floor. His fist started to bruise and bleed a bit because of the amount of force he used but he didn’t pay any mind to it. Afterwards, he looked up and pointed an accusing finger at Red, anger evident in his eyes.

“You! You did this didn’t you?!” he yelled out as he got up.

“He didn’t do it, Ben. He was with us the whole time!” Koku argued.

“Then maybe it was you!” he yelled, this time pointing at Green.

“ ** _Me?! You literally just saw me enter through that door, same time as you did!_** ” Green retorted.

“We need to call an emergency meeting. The commander and everyone else need to know.”


	4. Chapter 4

“Excuse me but, you found WHAT?!” the commander yelled, not believing his ears.

“It’s true commander! Me, Alex, and James went to fix the lights. After the lights turned on, we found Rhea’s body!” Koku argued.

“Take me to the body,” the commander said calmly. Koku nodded and stood up. Red and James followed suit, with Red having to support James due to him still being slightly shaken up from the earlier events.

Everyone followed them all the way to electrical. The commander held out his hand and told them that he would go in first. Once inside, everyone else followed.

Due to it not being immediately wrapped up or put somewhere cold, the body had already began decomposing at a fast rate, the stench growing ever stronger.

The commander observed the body and examined its surrounding area. He couldn’t find anything to indicate that Rhea had been murdered using a weapon. However, the lights had only stayed off for a couple of minutes which led him to wonder as to who or what could have done this.

“I’m telling you now, sir. It’s either Red or that friend of his!” Ben said.

“Ben. I’m aware you’re hurt right now, especially since you and Rhea were very close friends. However, we cannot jump to conclusions. They both have solid alibis,” the commander explained.

“Yeah, why are you even accusing the new guys anyway? Cut them some slack, Ben!” Thea scolded.

“You’re acting mad sus right now, dude,” Jerry commented, looking Ben up and down.

“Whatever. I’m telling you all right now, you’re making a huge mistake!” he yelled. He then looked over at Red and Green. “And you two, just know that this incident makes me not trust you guys even more,” Ben spat. He then turned on his heel and left.

“Oh my gosh, we are so sorry about Ben,” Thea said as she looked at Red and Green with a bit of pity.

“ **It’s fine. I’m sure it’s just his grief talking** ,” Red replied calmly.

“I still can’t believe Rhea’s gone,” James mumbled, tears threatening to come out again.

“ **There, there, Orange. I’m sure Rhea is in a better place now** ,” Red said as he gave him a small hug.

Truth be told, Red didn’t even know why he was hugging James. He should be hell-bent on killing him and the others but seeing his tear-stained face made him feel something inside. It made him feel a little sad to know that James was sad.

‘ _Could it be remorse?_ ’ he thought. He then shook the thought away. After all,

Monsters like him couldn’t feel.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“ **Great kill today. However, we almost got caught** ,” Red said as he once again got ready for bed. He had to help Koku bring James back to their room earlier since James had suddenly fainted on the way back. He could have chosen to not help but he did so anyway.

This didn’t go unnoticed by Green.

“ ** _Why do I feel like you’re starting to catch feelings for that human?_** ” Green asked as he sat on the bed.

“ **Again, I am not catching feelings for a human** ,” he replied.

“ ** _If you say so_** ,” Green warily replied. “ ** _Anyways, I suggest we kill that Ben boy next. He’s starting to get too close for comfort_** ,” Green growled.

“ **Patience, Green. We can’t kill him yet** ,” Red said as he sat down.

“ ** _Why not?_** ” Green complained.

“ **Because that could confirm his previous suspicions of us. That would give us away and we’d get caught** ,” Red explained. “ **To speed things up a bit, we’ll kill two of them tomorrow. I suggest we kill that Tom guy and the commander** ,” he said.

“ ** _Why those two?_** ” Green asked.

“ **I’ve noticed that the Tom guy is much like Ben. If he catches on, it could be the end of us** ,” Red simply stated.

“ ** _What about the commander?_** ”

“ **A ship without its captain to guide it will go into a state of disarray. Soon, they’ll start to go paranoid and not trust each other** ,” Red added.

“ ** _Fair enough. Anyways, I’m gonna sleep now. I’m tired_** ,” Green commented. He then lay down and fell asleep.

“ **Good night, my friend**.”


	5. Chapter 5

Everyone was on edge. Some were still shaken up and some just felt numb.

Due to the recent murder, everyone was very cautious. They’d constantly look behind their backs and try to finish their tasks as quick as possible. The situation was now evident to them.

There was an impostor on-board the ship.

The only problem was that no one knew how many were actually there. For all they knew, there could be more than one.

Their state of panic and fear excited Red and Green. At the same time, they couldn’t wait to end this. The buddy system was a bit of a hindrance to their plans, but they’d be able to find a way to isolate everyone immediately. They’d just have to wait for now.

Meanwhile, the commander stayed in the navigation room, trying to figure out what to do. After all, one of his crewmates just died right under his nose. He was distraught. They were already pretty far from Mira HQ so he couldn’t steer the ship to go back for help.

As the commander was looking through papers, trying to look for solutions to their predicament, something came up on the navigation panel; the shields were malfunctioning. Those shields protected the outer layer of their ship from small and medium sized asteroids. If those malfunctioned, their ship would be prone to getting damaged and he couldn’t risk that.

Immediately, the commander stood up and walked towards the shield room. As he was trying to figure out how to fix the shields, he heard a creak from behind him.

He turned around only to be met with Red pointing a gun at him. He was frozen in shock. Suddenly, he heard Red cock the gun.

“ **Goodbye commander**.”

The lights suddenly flickered, temporarily confusing the commander. Red was now in front of him, pointing the gun directly to his head. The last thing he heard was the sound of the gun firing before everything faded to black. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tom wandered down the halls cautiously. Jerry had gone a different way a little earlier saying he felt hungry and wanted to quickly grab something from the cafeteria. Reluctantly, Tom had let him. Now he was all alone.

He was heading to navigation. He wanted to speak to the commander and ask if he had found anything that could help them. However, when he entered the room, it was empty. Tom raised a brow and wondered where the commander could have gone.

He exited the room and went to the 02 room to see if he was there. He wasn’t. He continued down the hall to check the shields room. Eventually, he arrived. And he found the commander alright.

He found him dead on the floor with a bullet wound on his head and blood pooling around him.

This alarmed Tom. He quickly looked around the room to see if the killer could still be there. After confirming that there was no one but him and the commander’s corpse in the room, he approached the corpse. He then noticed something shiny near the commander’s body.

It was a revolver gun.

Tom hesitantly picked it up and inspected it. He looked inside the chamber to see that there were still five bullets left. He then looked down at the commander.

‘ _Poor guy must’ve been jumped_ ,’ he thought.

Just as he was about to go out to report the body, he heard a loud gasp behind him followed by the sound of something falling onto the floor. Tom quickly looked behind him to see his brother Jerry. The thing he dropped was a bottle of water.

“Bro, w-why?” Jerry asked, tears rolling down his cheeks as the feeling of fear and betrayal slowly started to consume him. He then ran out and started running for the emergency button in the cafeteria.

“W-Wait, Jerry! It’s not what it looks like!” Tom yelled as he ran after him, gun still in hand.

Unfortunately, Jerry was much faster than him. Within no time, Jerry dove for the button before Tom could so much as try to stop him. This alerted everyone on the ship. Everyone immediately rushed to the cafeteria, only to see Jerry cowering behind a table and Tom holding a gun.

“What’s going on here?” Ben asked.

“I-I found Tom in navigation. H-He killed the commander,” Jerry said as he pointed at Tom.

“What the hell, Tom?!” Ben roared. He then ran up to Tom and held him up by the collar.

“It’s not me, I swear! I just found the body and the gun was next to it!” Tom said, trying to defend himself.

“I don’t know Tom, you’re starting to sound a little sus,” Koku commented.

“ **It’s all going according to plan** ,” Red whispered to Green. Green silently snickered and nodded in agreement.

“Then tell us why you still have the gun on you, huh?!” Ben retorted. Tom tried to come up with reply but all he could do was stutter. “I bet you killed Rhea too, didn’t you?!” Ben added.

“Why would I do that?! Rhea’s my friend too! I would never even think of harming her or the commander!” Tom yelled out in frustration.

“Yet they’re dead, and you have a weapon in hand. Who’s to say you didn’t have more weapons stashed away to kill her with? Who’s to say you didn’t hide those away or dispose of them after killing her?” Ben spat. He then put Tom down and started dragging him somewhere.

“Wait, where are you taking me?” Tom yelled, alarmed by Ben’s sudden actions.

“I’m getting rid of you, murderer!” Ben yelled as he continued to drag Tom. Everyone else followed them.

Tom began to panic even more once he saw where Ben was taking him. It suddenly dawned upon Tom as to what Ben was about to do; he was going to throw him out the airlock and into space. Tom dropped the gun and started struggling even more against Ben.

“You’re insane, you know that?!” Tom said as he continued to struggle.

Ben didn’t reply. Once they reached the airlock, he told Koku to open up the airlock. Reluctantly, Koku walked up to the panel and punched in the code that opened up the hatch.

“No wait, please!” Tom yelled as Ben dragged him to the open hatch. He then looked at his brother. “Jerry, please,” Tom mumbled as he looked at Jerry for help. Jerry simply turned away so he wouldn’t have to look at him anymore, tears pricking the corner of his eyes.

It pained him on the inside but if Tom was the murderer then he couldn’t interfere. If he did, he could jeopardize his safety as well as the safety of the other crewmates.

Meanwhile, after Tom had seen Jerry turn away from him, he had lost all hope. He eventually stopped struggling and looked down, tears slowly falling. If only he hadn’t entered that room. If only he and Jerry hadn’t been at the wrong place at the wrong time, then this all could have been avoided.

“Any last words?” Ben asked him. Tom stayed silent. Ben just sighed in frustration and shoved him out of the airlock.

“I can’t believe he’s the impostor,” James mumbled. “Well, at least we don’t have to be so worried anymore, right Red?” James said as he looked at Red, trying to remain positive despite the recent events.

“ **Yes, yes it is**.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“ ** _Honestly, that idiot made it easier for us to get two kills_** ,” Green laughed as they entered their room.

“ **Indeed. Now, I suggest we stay low for a while** ,” Red said as he took off his space suit.

“ ** _Oh come on! We’re so close to finishing them off!_** ” Green whined.

“ **Again, you need to be patient, Green. For now, we’ll let them think they’re safe. We’ll wait until they’re vulnerable again and isolate them from each other** ,” Red stated as he took out another gun. “ **Then we’ll strike** ,” he finished.

“ ** _Fine, fine. But what are we supposed to do in the mean time?_** ” Green asked.

“ **Simple; we play along with them, fake tasks, gain their trust** ,” Red said as he lay down. “ **Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to sleep** ,” And with that, both impostors went to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

For the next two weeks, everyone slowly began to calm down again, thinking that they had finally gotten rid of the killer. As for the two bodies, they wrapped them up in some extra bedsheets and disposed of them through the garbage chute.

Meanwhile, Red kept watching over James, observing his every move. Eventually, he memorized which tasks he did often and began to accompany him and helped him with some tasks.

At first, James found this to be odd but eventually got used to it. He even felt somewhat comforted by Red’s presence.

“Hey Red, could you help me boot up the reactor?” James asked. Red nodded and followed him into the room.

“Alright, just hold your hand down on that scanner. I’ll do the same on this other one,” James said. He then turned around and started placing his hand on a scanner.

A few minutes later, they both heard a small beep and the light on the reactor turned green. James smiled and took his hand of the scanner with Red following suit.

“Well, that’s the last of my tasks for today. Do you have any tasks you need help with?” James asked.

“ **No. I finished them all** ,” Red replied.

“Okay then,” James said.

A thought suddenly crossed his mind, though he was hesitant to actually say it. After a few minutes of just standing there in awkward silence, Red decided it was time to go when he was stopped by James.

“Hold on!” James yelled.

“ **Yes?** ” Red said, turning back around to face James.

“Um, I was thinking, since we’re both done with tasks,” James started. He slightly fumbled over his words a bit and took a quick pause before continuing. “Would you maybe want to hang out?” he finished.

Now it was Red’s turn to be (once again) caught off-guard. He hadn’t expected James to ask him such a thing. It even amused him a little. He mulled it over for a couple of minutes before responding with a nod.

“That’s great! Come on, I have a laptop and some DVDs in my shared room with Koku!” he said, grabbing Red by the hand and bringing him to his room.

All the while, Red was starting to feel conflicted. He and Green were supposed to kill them soon. They were supposed to be cold-blooded killers that felt nothing but hunger and bloodlust. Yet somehow, after meeting James, that all seemed to change.

He didn’t know why but he felt something stir inside his stomach besides hunger whenever he saw James. When James was sad, he was sad. When James was happy and safe, he felt happy and relieved. He remembered that at the other ship they had sabotaged, the humans talked about something fairly similar to what he was experiencing right now. If he remembered correctly, it was an emotion, or a feeling to be more precise. He just couldn’t remember what it was called.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of a door opening. He looked forward to see that they had arrived at James and Koku’s room. When they had entered, James closed the door behind them.

“You can sit on my bed. I just need to look for my laptop,” James said. He then crouched next to a small cabinet that was next to his bed. “By the way, do you have any movies you wanna watch?” he asked.

“ **What do you mean?** ” Red asked.

“Like, do you wanna watch something like horror, comedy, romance, action, or something else?” James clarified.

“ **Whatever you feel is best** ,” Red said with a shrug. To be fair, he didn’t even know what a movie was so he didn’t know what to choose.

James just hummed and started to look through the small cabinet. Soon enough, he pulled out his laptop, a charger, and a small stack of DVDs. He then looked through the DVDs until he found one.

“Oh! Let’s watch this!” James said enthusiastically, raising a DVD case in the air.

“ **What is that?** ” Red asked, pointing at the DVD case.

“Only the best movie of all time!” he exclaimed as he sat next to Red

“ **Which is?** ” Red asked.

“Spirited Away!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Halfway through the movie, James had fallen asleep. He was now leaning (and slightly drooling) on Red’s shoulder. Meanwhile, Red was as stiff as a board. He had never really interacted like this with anyone before, much less a human. Red then decided to adjust James a bit so he would be more comfortable.

However, the moment he started to move, James started to stir. Red immediately stopped moving. Once he was sure that James wasn’t going to stir again, he slowly moved his head to the side to look for a pillow or something to put James’ head on. Unfortunately, they were sitting on the foot of the bed and the pillows near the head of the bed were out of his reach.

With a sigh and a bit of hesitance, he moved the laptop from his lap onto the bed and then carefully placed James’ head on his lap. He then felt the sudden urge to stroke his hair, and stroke his hair he did. A small smile graced his face for a moment as he looked down at the James’ sleeping form.

‘ _He looks so peaceful_ ,’ he thought. ‘ _And his hair is really soft_ ,’ he added.

“Am I interrupting something?”

Red immediately stopped stroking James’ hair and looked up at the door to see Koku leaning on the door and smirking at him.

“ **It’s not what it looks like. James just fell asleep, that’s all** ,” Red calmly replied.

“Oh? You calling him by his name now? I thought you said you’d just call him Orange?” Koku snickered.

Red opened his mouth to reply but nothing came out. For once, he was left a little speechless.

“Hey, relax there, mate. I’m just teasing,” Koku said as he walked towards them. “I’ll take it from here. You should go back to your room and get some rest,” Koku said as he carefully raised James up.

“ **Thank you, Yellow** ,” Red said as he stood up.

“It’s fine,” Koku responded nonchalantly. “Oh and before you go,” he started. Red paused at the door.

“ **Hm? What is it?** ” Red inquired.

“You have my blessing to date my best friend,” Koku said with wink. Red’s face suddenly felt a little hot.

“ **No comment**.” He then turned on his heel and fast-walked away, Koku’s laughter fading away in the distance.

Once he reached his room, he immediately shut the door behind him and leaned on it. He then held onto his head as he tried to process what had just happened. He knew that what Koku said was most likely just a joke but he couldn’t help but be a little affected by them.

“ ** _I see you’re back from your date with the orange guy_** ,” Green commented as he looked at Red, arms crossed and brows raised. Red quickly stood up straight and cleared his throat.

“ **I have no idea as to what you’re talking about** ,” Red commented as he walked over to his bed.

“ ** _Oh please. I saw you go to his room earlier_** ,” Green said as he approached him. “ ** _Now it’s my turn to remind you; stay focused. You can’t catch feelings for some human. That’ll jeopardize what we’re doing!_** ” Green stressed as he crossed his arms.

“ **Relax, I’m aware of our mission. Now go to sleep** ,” Red said with a dismissive wave. He then strapped himself in and went to sleep.

Green scoffed and rolled his eyes, walking away from Red’s bed and going to his own. He then strapped himself in and went to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

“What the hell?!”

Everyone ran to the source of the yell. Everyone found Ben standing in the doorway of Jerry and Tom’s room. They looked inside to see Jerry dead. There was an empty bottle of pills next to his corpse.

“Jerry…” Thea mumbled, tears falling once more.

“ ** _I guess the loss of his brother hit him really hard_** ,” Green commented.

“Let’s just put his body away with the others,” Ben said with a sigh.

Ben, Red, and Green then carried the body off to the storage area while Koku and James tried their best to comfort Thea. Thea was very close to Jerry and Tom. Losing Tom already took a toll on her but losing Jerry seemed to be the final breaking point for her. From the bubbly girl she usually was, she became a sobbing, broken mess on the floor.

“Why. Why did this have to happen to us?” Thea quietly asked as she looked up at Koku and James.

“We don’t know Thea, we don’t know,” James said as he hugged his friend. Thea accepted the hug and started sobbing on his shoulders.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Don’t think that I trust you two even though we got rid of Tom already. For all I know, you could have been accomplices,” Tom commented as they wrapped up the body.

“ **What would make you say such a thing?** ” Red asked with a raised brow.

“Ever since you two arrived, things have been going downhill for everyone,” Tom said as he threw the body into the garbage chute.

“ ** _Keep being sus for all we care. It’ll get you nowhere_** ,” Green replied as he dusted his hands off.

“Whatever. I’m gonna go find Thea and the others.” And with that, Tom left Red and Green alone.

“ ** _I can’t wait to kill him_** ,” Green growled as he glared at where Tom stood earlier.

“ **Calm down and don’t be impulsive** ,” Red stated, clearing up the minor mess they had made.

“ ** _Honestly, at this point, I could care less. I’m getting hungry. It’s been two weeks and I can’t handle eating human food anymore_** ,” Green stated. “ ** _I think I’ll start off with killing that orange guy_** ,” he added.

“ **You better not** ,” Red said, anger slowly starting to build up inside of him.

“ ** _And why not?_** ” Green asked. He then let out a small gasp as his eyes widened a bit in realization. “ ** _You caught feelings for him didn’t you?_** ” Green said, glaring at Red.

“ **Again with this? No, I didn’t** ,” Red said, rolling his eyes. But deep down, he could feel that he was lying.

These past few weeks, he didn’t know how or why, but he seemed to have developed feelings for James. Something about James just made him feel like he was simply a normal person and not murderous monster.

“ ** _Bullshit! I can tell you’re lying, Red_** ,” Green said as he began approaching Red. “ ** _I told you to not catch feelings but what did you do? You caught feelings and fell in love, with a human nonetheless!_** ” he said, his voice gradually getting louder.

“ **Calm down and lower your voice, Green. They’ll hear us!** ” Red hissed.

“ ** _Honestly? I could care less if they did. So what if they end up hearing us? At least we’ll be able to kill all four of them with ease_** ,” Green said as he transformed.

Red stood there silently, not even looking at Green. Green scoffed.

“ ** _I knew it. You’ve gone soft_** ,” he taunted. “ ** _Ever since you met that orange guy you haven’t been the same! Where’s my cold-blooded partner in murder gone, huh?!_** ” he yelled.

“ **So what if I have gone soft? James actually makes me feel like a normal person! He doesn’t run away from me and even treats me with kindness!** ” Red yelled back. “ **He was able to make me feel more than just hate, anger, or hunger** ,” he mumbled. Red glared at his now ex-partner in murder. He shook his head and began to transform.

His impostor form was much more different compared to Green’s. His eyes became a pitch black color and ram horns started protruding from his head. His hands turned into large, pointy claws that were made with metal near the tips.

His space suit tore near the middle and his stomach opened up to form a ghastly looking mouth lined with rows of sharp teeth. A long, slimy, and pointy tongue came out and was poised as if it was about to strike at someone.

His boots broke as large sharp talons started protruding out of them. A long, spiked tail grew near his lower back and was ready to strike at anyone who got too close.

“ **Apologies old friend, but I can’t let you harm James or his friends** ,” he said calmly as he glared at Green.

“ ** _So be it_**.”

Five of Green’s tentacles then striked to try and restrain Red. Red swiftly dodged all five and cut them off in the process. This caused Green to let out a pain-filled yowl. He grunted and glared at Red, this time using ten tentacles to try and get him. Red kept dodging but was unfortunately struck by two of the tentacles.

Red shook away the bit of pain that followed and lunged at Green. Green, who was still slightly recovering from the loss of some of his tentacles, didn’t manage to dodge in time. Red, using one of his claws, then gouged Green’s only eye out. Green screeched in pain as he tried to get Red off of him. Once he did, he immediately got up.

“ ** _I’ll kill you for that, you bastard!_** ”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, Thea had stopped crying as she and the others heard a lot of shouting and random noises come from the storage room. Curious to see what could be the cause. They all carefully walked to the storage room.

“Hey Red, Green, we heard some noise come from here. Are you oka-”

Koku got cut off as he looked in horror at the scene in front of them. The others gasped and were frozen in shock. There in the storage room, were two monsters that resembled Red and Green.

“Red? Green?” James mumbled out.

Red gasped and looked behind him only to see James and the others standing in the doorway.

“ ** _Don’t think I can’t kill you, Red! You forget that I can regenerate. Once I do, it’s over for you!_** ” With that, Green quickly escaped to a nearby vent.

“Alex, what’s going on?” James asked, his voice shaking.

“ **It’s complicated** ,” Red said as he faced them fully.

“Damn it! I should’ve known!” Ben yelled as he punched the wall. He then pointed a finger accusingly at Red. “You two were the murderers all along!”

“ **To be fair, I only killed the commander. Green killed Rhea, you killed Tom, and Jerry killed himself** ,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Well I wouldn’t have done that if I had fully known it was you two all along!” Ben argued.

“ **Well, that’s a matter of the past now. Your first priority right now should be heading to the escape pods** ,” Red said as he looked around for signs of Green’s return.

“Why? So you and your friend can ambush us and finish us off?” Ben angrily asked.

“ **We’re not friends anymore** ,” Red stated as he approached them. They backed up a little. He noticed this so he stopped going near them.

“And why is that?” Thea asked out of curiosity.

“ **Because I chose to side with and protect a certain human** ,” he said, looking at James. This somehow caused James to blush a bit.

Koku looked back and forth between Red and James. He kept repeatedly doing that before letting out a really loud gasp and pointing at both of them.

“I knew it! I knew it!” Koku yelled. “I knew you guys liked each other! But to be honest, this would’ve been such a cute moment if only we weren’t a life or death situation right now,” he rambled.

“How can we know if we can trust you though?” Ben asked cautiously.

“ **If I had any intention of killing you, I would’ve done so already** ,” Red bluntly stated.

“Touchè.”

“ **Now ready your helmets and follow me. I’ll bring you guys to the escape pods** ,” he said as walked towards them.

“What will you do afterwards?” Thea asked.

“ **I’ll blow up the ship** ,” he replied. “ **It’s the only way** ,” he added.

“But that’ll kill you!” James yelled.

“ **I know. But if I don’t blow up this ship, I won’t be able to kill him and ensure your safety** ,” he said as he put a hand on James’ shoulder.

“Why can’t you just come with us?” James asked as he began to cry.

“ **I wish I could, but the escape pods only fit two people each and there are only two escape pods available** ,” Red explained as they continued to walk.

“Then we can leave Ben behind instead!” Koku said.

“Don’t you even dare,” Ben hissed, shoving him a bit.

“It’s just a joke, jeez,” Koku stated.

“ **Let’s keep moving. There’s vents all over the place. Who knows where Green could pop up.** ”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“How much farther are we?”

“ **It should be in the next room** ,” Red stated.

_Creak!_

‘ _Damn it! He’s here_ ’ Red frantically thought.

“ **He’s here! Go, now!** ” Red roared as he got ready to fight.

“But what about you?” James cried.

Red quickly turned around and kissed James. This caught James by surprise but he eventually melted into it. After a couple of seconds, Red pulled away and patted his head.

“ **Now go. I promise, we’ll meet again someday** ,” he said softly.

“Promise? How?” James asked.

“ **I have my ways** ,” Red said with a wink. He then lightly pushed James towards Ben. “ **Protect them for me Ben. Especially James** ,” he ordered. Ben nodded and all four of them put on their helmets and ran for the escape pods.

Red sighed and turned around, only to be met by Green who had now regenerated his eye and had dozens of tentacles ready to attack.

“ **Let’s finish this.** ”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hurry up, James!”

“Alright, alright,” James said in a sad tone. He didn’t wanna leave Red here to die but knew he had to.

“Remember to punch in 7375, Koku,” Ben reminded him.

“I’m not dumb. I remember the escape pod code perfectly fine,” Koku said. He then closed the door to his and Thea’s escape pod and launched it.

“Alright. It’s our turn,” Ben said as he punched in the code. The door closed and their escape pod was launched into space.

As they floated away from the ship, the last thing they saw was Red looking at them through the window. Red lights flashed above him as he put his hand up on the glass. James put his hand on the glass of the escape pod as well as tears rolled down his cheeks.

_Boom!_

The spaceship finally exploded into bits and pieces. Red and Green were no more.

With a sigh, Ben patted James on the back and sent a distress signal to HQ.


	8. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please see the A/N at the end. Thank you! :3

“Are you sure you don’t want us to come with you?” Koku asked in concern.

“Trust me, I’ll be fine,” James said as he put on a pair of shoes and grabbed his bag.

“Be back before dinner!” Ben called out from the couch.

“I will!” James shouted back as he headed out the door.

As James walked, he reminisced about the past. It had been three years since the incident at the Skeld ship. Today was supposed to mark Red’s death anniversary. Of course he missed and mourned the others that died as well but it was Red whom he missed the most.

After their distress signal was picked up, Mira HQ quickly sent in another ship to pick them up. Another spaceship arrived shortly afterwards to assess the damage. All they could find floating around were the burning debris of the ship as well as burning bits of green (presumably from the now deceased Green). For a while, it had given James some hope that maybe Red had survived to that explosion. But alas, it was all wishful thinking.

The ship that had picked them up then brought them back to Mira HQ. They were situated there for a couple weeks before their superiors offered to bring them back to Earth as well as give them some monetary compensation so that they wouldn’t tell anyone about what happened.

Needless to say, they accepted the offer in a heartbeat.

They couldn’t wait to get back to Earth. The moment they landed, Ben couldn’t help but literally kiss the ground. After a couple days, they handed in their resignation letters and quit being astronauts. They had experienced enough of space to last them a lifetime.

They all decided to buy a house together and all four of them would share until they felt like moving out. Thea got a job at a nearby café while Ben got a job as a car dealer. Koku had gotten a job as a park ranger and James became a Science teacher.

James broke out of his stupor once he got to the park. James admired the scenery around him for a bit before walking towards a big tree near the middle of the park. Under that tree was a bench swing that was big enough to fit two people. James took a seat, plopped his bag onto the space next to him, and took out two sandwiches.

For him, it became like a small tradition to bring two sandwiches with him when he went to the park on this day. He’d put the other sandwich next to him, pretending that Red was beside him getting ready to eat it. At the end of the day, James would leave the sandwich on the bench for anyone who might want it.

James couldn’t help but sigh as he bit into his sandwich and looked up at the sky. He could feel tears in his eyes but he tried his best to hold them back. He then looked down, drowning out the world around him as he continued to think of the past.

Meanwhile, a man walked up to James. At first he tried to get his attention by calling out to him but James never acknowledged him. He even tried to wave his hand in front of him but it was still to no avail. Finally, he decided to just simply tap James on the shoulder.

James was surprised when he felt someone tap his shoulder. He looked to his left to see that someone was standing next to him.

“ **Is this seat taken?** ” the man asked with a smile.

‘ _Wait… That voice!_ ’ James thought. He immediately looked up and almost dropped his sandwich because of who he saw.

“Red? I-Is that really you?” James asked. This time, the tears were able to fall from his eyes and James did nothing to stop them.

“ **Hello, James. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?** ” Red said with a smile.

James immediately put his sandwich to the side and lunged at Red and hugged him, burying his face in his jacket.

“I thought you were dead,” James mumbled into his jacket.

“ **I promised you we’d meet again, didn’t I? I am an impostor, er, man of my word** ,” he explained. “ **Oh and James, you can just call me Alex from now on** ,” he added. James nodded into his jacket before pulling away.

“Come sit down,” James immediately said. He put his backpack on the ground and grabbed the two sandwiches. “Sandwich?” he offered.

“ **Well, aren’t you prepared?** ” Alex joked as he sat down. James blushed in embarrassment and looked away.

“Quick question; how did you even survive the explosion?” James asked, changing the topic. “Is Green alive?!” he added in panic. Alex just chuckled.

“ **Don’t worry, I finished him off in the ship and the explosion blew his body into burning little bits and pieces** ,” he replied. “ **As to how I survived, I had put on a helmet and strapped on an oxygen tank before setting the ship to self-destruct. Once it blew up, I managed to survive the explosion and saw two ships arrive. I snuck onto one of them and followed you four back to Mira HQ. I had also snuck on the ship sending you four back to Earth then went my separate way after landing** ,” he rambled.

“Why didn’t you come with us though?” James asked.

“ **Because one, I didn’t want to face you guys yet due to what I had done and two, I knew that Ben was still angry at me and I couldn’t risk him exposing me** ,” Alex explained as he took a bite of the sandwich. “ **By the way, this is really good** ,” he commented as he pointed at the sandwich.

“Thanks,” James said with a smile. “So anyways, what did you do after that?” he continued.

“ **Well, I knew I had to learn how to act like a proper human first if I wanted to blend in. So, I spent the last three years learning everything I could. I even got a job and began to earn this thing you humans call ‘money’** ,” Alex explained. “ **Which reminds me, I actually got you something** ,” Alex added.

“Oh? What is it?” James said out of curiosity. Alex then brought out a small box, making James’ eyes widen in shock.

“Is that what I think it is?” James asked, feeling his soul leave his body as he pointed at the box.

“ **Well if you’re thinking that it’s a promise ring then yes, you’re correct** ,” Alex said calmly.

‘ _Oh thank god. I thought it was a wedding ring_ ,’ James thought. ‘ _Actually, I probably shouldn’t be thinking too far ahead just yet,_ ’ he added.

“ **I’ve heard some humans say that this is something you give to someone you love so I decided to get you this as a surprise** ,” Alex said as he opened the box. “ **Admittedly, I feel quite stupid for not knowing that the feeling I felt for you was called love. Anyhow, I hope you like it**.” Alex then took out the ring and put it on James’ ring finger.

“I, I have no words,” James said as he continued to cry.

“ **Oh. Do you not like it?** ” Alex asked, confused.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love the ring. It looks so beautiful!” James said. “It’s just that, I never thought I’d see the day where the two of us would be together, you know?” he stated.

“ **Ah, that’s a relief** ,” Alex sighed. “ **Because I also got a matching one for myself** ,” Alex admitted.

‘ _Now that’s just cute_ ,’ James thought as he looked at Alex.

“Well, thank you Alex, for everything,” James said with a smile.

“ **Does this mean we’re together now? Because, I don’t entirely understand how human relationships work** ,” Alex stated. This caused James to laugh. “ **What are you laughing about?** ”

“Nothing, I just find it adorable how you did all this for me,” James said. “And yes, this does mean we’re together,” he added. Alex then smirked, confusing James a bit. Alex then leaned in close to James causing James’ face to turn a bright shade of red.

“ **In that case, I suppose I can do this**.” And with that, Alex kissed James.

James would be lying if he said he didn’t miss this. He melted into it right away, almost wishing they could just stay that way.

Alas, the need for oxygen ruined everything.

Both of them panted a bit as they broke away from each other, trying to breathe in some air. The two guys then looked at each other and smiled.

“Alex, could you promise me something?” James asked.

“ **Anything, love** ,” he said. James blushed a bit and looked away before looking back at him.

“Can you promise to stay with me?” he asked, looking at Alex with a serious expression.

Alex’s eyes widened a little at the question. He then gave James a gentle smile, taking his right hand in his and giving it a small kiss.

“ **I promise; I’ll be with you from dusk till dawn. I’ll hold you when things go wrong and be your support beam when you need one** ,” he replied, cupping James’ left cheek with his free hand.

“When did you learn to be so cheesy?” James joked, laughing a bit.

“ **Something I learned from the past three years I’ve been here** ,” he said with a shrug and a playful smile.

Both of them slowly leaned into each other, Alex putting his forehead on James’ before giving him a kiss, James savoring this short moment they had. After a few seconds had passed, they broke apart and James leaned his head on Alex’s shoulder, both looking at the beautiful sunset before them.

“ **I love you, James** ,” Alex said as he held James closer to him. James never thought he’d hear these words from Alex in his entire life but he’s glad that he did.

“I love you too, Alex.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! You've reached the end of my short story.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did making it. Apologies if some parts seem a little too rushed. Seeing as this was a project for school, I tried not to make it too long since I knew my teacher had more short stories to grade so I had cut off and deleted some other parts that were mostly just filler chapters that led up to the chapter where the crewmates find out who the real impostors are.
> 
> Anyhow, I'm rambling again. Thank you for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful day! :3


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